Chad: Major opposition leader joins race to state house

Chad’s main opposition leader in Chad, Saleh Kebzabo, has officially announced his presidential bid.

The 68-year-old leader of the National Union for Development and Renewal party (UNDR) declared his interest during the fourth extraordinary congress for development forum on Sunday.

In his speech, he termed the current regime of President Idriss Déby Itno as a failure and called on the other opposition parties to support him win the upcoming elections.

“To win over President Déby and the current deplorable regime, we have to be obliged to defend the democracy of the country past our reach” he said.

He made this statement before hundreds of delegates.

The current President has been in power since 1990, a development which has made the opposition form a coalition to pile up pressure to oust President Idriss.

According to local media, two aspiring candidates of the UNDR have already stepped down in a bid to present one strong candidate.

In 2011, the withdrawal by the main opposition parties from the presidential election allowed Idriss Dèby Itno win with a landslide margin of 83.6 percent.